Page 77 of Darkest Game

The moment Mikhail stops outside the restaurant, I don’t hesitate to take my gun and rush towards the door.

“Slow down,” Mikhail growls. “We have to be smart about this.”

But I’m not listening. Elaine almost killed Irina today. I’m not going to let her get away with this.

I kick the door in and run inside. The restaurant is empty but I can hear talking in the back kitchen.

The three of us head that way.

We burst into the kitchen… only to find cooks working on the dinner menu.

“What are you doing in my kitchen?” a chef asks, flipping us off.

“Is Elaine Finnigan here?” I ask.

“Who? Get out. Go.” He ushers us out with a wave of a rag.

“What the fuck?” I ask Mikhail once we’re back in the main dining room. “Your guy said Eliane would be here.”

“Your guy either lied,” Nico says. “Or he fucked up.”

Mikhail frowns as he pulls out his phone. “This is what he said. He’s never lied to me before.”

That’s when the front door bursts open and something is thrown inside. A… grenade.

“Shit!” On instinct, I grab Mikhail, who’s closest to the grenade, and throw him to the ground as far away as I can. Me and Nico dive behind a table when the grenade goes off.

It leaves behind a huge explosion. My vision goes black for a moment before I can blink through the smoke and debris left behind. There’s a huge hole in the wall and part of the ceiling as collapsed.

I run my hands over my body to make sure I’m ok. The only thing wrong with me is my ears ringing. But otherwise, I managed to make it out of this alive.

I push myself upright, coughing all the dust particles out of my mouth. Nico is getting up too.

That’s when I see Mikhail on the ground.

Part of his arm is covered in red welts. I’m not sure if he’s alive.

I go over to him and roll him onto his back. He lets out a long, low groan, telling me he’s not dead at least. But he’s hurt. Bad.

“We have to get him out of here,” I say, not even considering that this is my enemy. Before I met Irina, I would have left Mikhail here without a second glance. But she wants me to be a good man and a good man helps others, even if it’s a person I hate.

“I’ll call for help,” Nico says, taking out his phone, even though his hands are shaking. I’ve never seen the great Nico Bernardi look so freaked out before.

“A fucking grenade,” I say. “They knew we’d be here. That’s the only way.”

Nico calls for an ambulance before he hangs up. “I know. But how did they know we’d be here?”

I nod at Mikhail. “His guy. Whoever he is sent us here and set us up.”

“You think Mikhail set us up?”

“No. He’s hurt. Why would he put himself in harm’s way? Someone else did this.”

“You…” Mikhail gasps out.

“What?”

“You saved my life,” he manages to say. “You fucker. You saved my life.”